Art

Airport art & amenities to look for during Thanksgiving travel

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Exhibition celebrating public art at Miami Int’l Airport

From now until July 2025, Miami International Airport (MIA) is celebrating local public art with a photography exhibition in the Gate D31 Gallery.

Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places: Celebrating 50 Years features 23 images of large-scale, integrated art commissions located countywide, from MIA to PortMiami, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, and several private-public partnerships on county land.

Santa’s mailbox at Lehigh Valley Int’l Airport

Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE) in Allentown, PA has a mailbox set up where kids can drop off letters to Santa.

The mailbox is in the Wilfred M. “Wiley” Post, Jr. Concourse (beyond the TSA Checkpoint) until Tuesday, Dec. 3rd.

Festival of Trees at Charlotte Douglas Int’l Airport

Those 20 decorated trees on the Concourse A Expansion at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) aren’t just pretty. They’re doing some good.

CLT’s Festival of Light features trees decorated in various themes including, “Tis the Season to Travel,” “Christmas Around the World,” “White Christmas,” “Queens Court,” “A Few of Our Favorite Things,” “Construction Fit for a Queen” and “Bon Voyage.”

The tree display is coordinated by HMS Host, CLT’s food and beverage concessionaire and each tree has a QR code that passengers and employees can use to donate to a charitable organization, including Second Harvest, Big Brothers Big Sisters, American Cancer Society, Make-A-Wish and Autism Speaks.

A second QR code lets everyone vote on their favorite tree through Dec. 28. The winning team will receive a trophy.

Opera & ballet at Helsinki Airport + Giant miniature house at Indianapolis Airport

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Helsinki Airport shows ballet & opera snippets

The Stuck at the Airport team is a big fan of Helsinki, Finland. And not just for the licorice.

We love the airport too.

And we’re delighted to learn that passengers traveling through Helsinki Airport (HEL) can now enjoy snippets of opera and ballet from the Opera House in Helsinki.

Audio and video selections from performances are projected on a giant wall at the airport train station.

The first set of snippets includes highlights from the ballets Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty and the operas Tosca, Turandot and Don Giovanni. The run time is about 20 minutes and the program selections will be refreshed regularly.

We’re putting this in the running for Airport Amenity of the Week.

Indianapolis Int’l Airport displays a replica of a President’s house

Here’s another fun installation at an airport.

(Courtesy IND Airport)

The home of Benjamin Harris, the 23rd President of the United States, is a popular tourist destination near downtown Indianapolis.

And now an intricate replica of Harrison’s house created by miniaturist Jimmy Landers is on display in the pre-security Civic Plaza at Indianapolis International Airport (IND).

The replica is nearly six feet long, three feet wide and four feet tall. It includes more than 40 windows, eight porch columns, four chimneys and real slate roofs.

The original home was built with 380,552 bricks. The replica has 48,000.

The original structure cost $29,000 (over $800,000 in 2024 dollars). The cost of building the replica was about about half as much: $15,000.

“Made in Miami” film posters on exhibit at MIA Airport

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Love movies?

Then be sure to look for this film-related exhibition the next time you visit Miami International Airport (MIA).

MIA Galleries and Film Miami are presenting a selection of film posters spanning seven decades of motion pictures shot in Miami and surrounding areas.

And Now, Our Feature Presentation (great title for an exhibit about movies, right?) celebrates Miami and the Miami area as both an inspiration for filmmakers and as a popular filming location.

The exhibition is at the Gates D31 Gallery and features 33 Hollywood film posters spanning eight decades of motion pictures shot in Miami-Dade County from 1941 to 2024.

Here’s a flipbook preview of the new exhibition at MIA: And Now Our Feature Presentation: Miami Film Posters, 1941 – 2024.

Check to see if your favorite films or actors are included. You may be surprised.

Bradley International Airport (BDL) gets fresh art

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Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport (BDL) partnered with RiseUP for Arts to add five murals inside the main terminal.

The landscapes and imagery represent New England and Connecticut, the Nutmeg State.

Hartford-based RiseUP for Arts has completed 250 murals throughout Connecticut since 2015. The murals at BDL are by Patrick Ganino, Micaela Levesque and Chris Gann. Take a look.

Old Southwest Airlines seats = cool stuff

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Southwest Airlines has been in the news lately for the carrier’s decision to end its open seating policy, add premium-style seating and begin flying red-eye flights.

So, it’s a good time to look at another Southwest Airlines seating story. This one is all about what the airline has been doing with old aircraft seat leather.

After a seat refresh in 2014, Southwest Airlines had 43 acres of surplus seat leather. Rather than throw it in the landfill, the airline created the Repurpose with Purpose program.

The ongoing program not only recycles and repurposes Southwest Airlines’ old seat leather, but it also provides employment, skills training and other community benefits.

Through October 2024 an exhibit at Denver International Airport (DEN) displays some of the diverse and creative items being made.

Look for the exhibit at DEN Airport on Concourse C, Mezzanine (upper level), and at Baggage Claim 1, East Side.

Fresh art at SFO Airport: Rosie the Riveter

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One of the newest SFO Museum exhibitions at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) tells the story of Rosie the Riveter and the accomplishments of more than 16 million women who joined the workforce during the Second World War.

More than sixteen million women were employed at the peak of wartime production in 1944—with over three million in skilled factory positions to support the massive increase in war-related industries. Many of those jobs were in aviation.

Here’s the story of “Rosie the Riveter” from the exhition notes:

The Second World War had a profound impact on working women in American society. After the United States entered the war on December 7, 1941, millions of men left manufacturing jobs for military service and recruiters scoured the country in search of replacements. Women joined the workforce in record numbers and filled industrial positions previously denied to them. Migrating from diverse regions and cultures, women converged on the nation’s industrial centers and quickly learned skills that traditionally took years to master. Popular culture and propaganda launched the legend of “Rosie the Riveter,” the anonymous, bandanna-clad woman in coveralls who produced all manner of wartime equipment on the home front.

Look for Rosie the Riveter: Womanpower in Wartime post-security in Harvey Milk Terminal 1 at San Francisco International Airport through May 11, 2025.

(Images courtesy of SFO Museum)

Tour the ‘secret’ SFO Museum facility

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Flying boat airliner model aircraft. Courtesy SFO Museum

Yesterday we shared a video from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SFO) featuring the real-life magician pictured in the 180-foot-long “High Wire” mural from the airport’s art collection.

In that video, we get the answer to the riddle: How is a magic trick like an airport?

Today we’re sharing a charming video from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) offering a never-before look into the ‘secret’ storage facility of the SFO Museum.

Tag along and then be sure to take in a few of the great exhibits at SFO Airport next time you’re there. We’ve arranged a long layover at SFO this week just so we can see the Airplane Model exhibit in the International Terminal.

How is a magic trick like an airport?

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How is a magic trick like an airport?

“High Wire,” a 180-foot-long mural by artist Michael Fajan, has been at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) since 1993.

In 11 panels, Fagan depicted a magician and his assistant performing a magic trick.

Depending on which direction you view the artwork, it either depicts a person disappearing into a magic box or shows a person emerging from it.

For years the artwork was on a corridor wall in Concourse D where crowds of passengers made it difficult to see. But in 2021, “High Wire” was cleaned and reinstalled above the Concourse A corridor.

And in its new location, it is much easier to see.

But what about that magician in the painting? Turns out he’s a real Seattle-area magician named Jonathan Docter.

SEA recently shared the video below showing the magician at the airport, standing under the artwork, telling the story of how he came to be portrayed in the painting.

And he reveals the connection between magic and the airport.

“Traveling by air is a magical experience. You’re in one city and then after a couple of hours of flying in this large tube that we call an airplane or a jet, you are transported to another world, another city. Almost as if by magic.”

Not almost…

Travel Tidbits for the holiday weekend

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 The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expects to screen more than 18 million passengers at U.S airports over the Memorial Day travel period, which stretches from May 23 to May 29, about 6.4% more than in 2023.

If you’re one of the holiday travelers, here are some fresh art and amenities to look for at airports along the way.

Art at LAX Airport

It’s been about a year since LAX finally created an airside connection between all its terminals. That means ticketed passengers don’t have to go back through security to make a connecting flight in another terminal and can access all of the airport’s shops, dining venues and art.

Among the newest art installations at LAX is “Flora (Flores amplificati), by Laura Hull.

For the installation, Hull digitally manipulated and layered photographs of plant life commonly found in Southern California to create a digital mural printed on vinyl. Look for it in the hallway that connects Terminals 1 and 2 post-security.

Find a full list of all the permanent and temporary artwork at LAX on the LAX Art Program site.

(Laura Hull, “Flora (Flores amplificati),” Courtesy Los Angeles World Airports)

Beer – and more – at Bradley International Airport (BDL)

Beercode Kitchen & Bar has opened at Bradley International Airport (BDL) near Hartford, CT just in time for the busy holiday weekend. The gastropub is open in the Gates 21-30 concourse and is the first sit-down restaurant on that concourse. It’s open by 4 am daily for breakfast and has a lineup of local craft beer and other beverages.

Creatively Remade art objects at Denver Int’l Airport

Denver International Airport’s (DEN) newest exhibition, Creatively Remade: Upcycled Art and Design, features a wide range of art, fashion and functional objects made from materials that would have otherwise been discarded. 

The exhibit stretches through several areas of the airport, including Ansbacher Hall (before A-Bridge security), Concourse B East between gates B60 and B62, on level three of Concourse C, and east and west baggage claim.

Here are just a few of the pieces you might see.